Who the deadlines apply to
Arkansas places its mechanics lien timetable in Ark. Code Ann. § 18-44-101 et seq. [1]. Three stages on this page name the same five roles on any kind of project: the direct contractor, the subcontractor, the sub-subcontractor, the supplier and the laborer. Those three are the notice before filing, the lien filing and the deadline to sue [1].
The early notices are where the rules divide, first by project type and then by role. Section 18-44-115(a) covers residential real estate containing four or fewer units, and § 18-44-115(b) covers commercial real estate, a term that section defines [1]. On residential work the direct contractor's rule is one row, and subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, suppliers and laborers share another. On work other than residential, the notice rule lists subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, suppliers and laborers, while the direct contractor's row reads None required [1].
How the periods run
On residential work, unless the residential contractor supplies a performance and payment bond or the transaction is a direct sale to the property owner, the residential contractor gives the owner, the owner's authorized agent, or the owner's registered agent a statutory notice, and its rule reads Before the commencement of work, unless the residential contractor supplies a performance and payment bond or the transaction is a direct sale to the property owner [1]. Under § 18-44-115(a)(4), a residential contractor that fails to give it may not avail itself of the benefit of the lien [1]. For the other four roles on the same residential work, subject to that same bond and direct sale exception, the rule turns on whether the owner, the owner's authorized agent, or the owner's registered agent has received at least one copy of the notice, even one the particular lien claimant did not give [1].
On commercial real estate, a subcontractor, service provider, material supplier, or laborer sends a written notice Before 75 days have elapsed from the time that the labor was supplied or the materials furnished [1]. Without it, the statute gives those claimants no lien upon commercial real estate [1]. The table lists this notice and the residential notices without a counted date.
The later stages name all five roles alike. The notice before filing comes first: Ten days' notice before the filing of the lien [1]. The lien account is filed with the clerk of the circuit court within 120 days after the things specified in the subchapter have been furnished or the work or labor done or performed [1].
Filing the lien starts the last clock, 15 months after the lien is filed [1], for commencing an action under the subchapter. Section 18-44-119(b) adds that no lien continues to exist beyond that time unless, within it, an action is instituted and a lis pendens is filed [1].
How residential work is treated
Only the preliminary notice rows on this page differ by project type. The residential pair applies to residential real estate containing four or fewer units, and the other rule to commercial real estate as § 18-44-115(b)(2)(A) defines it [1]. The notice before filing, the lien filing and the deadline to sue are each listed for any project [1].
What changed recently
The code text quoted here is current through the First Extraordinary Session, 2026 [1]. Section 18-44-115, home of both owner notices, was last amended by Acts 2021, No. 984 [1]. Section 18-44-117, the lien filing section, was last amended by Acts 2019, No. 806 [1]. The notice before filing in § 18-44-114 was last amended by Acts 2009, No. 454, and § 18-44-119, on actions, by Acts 2005, No. 2287 [1].